A Penny Recipe.

Penny Romance wondered what I planned to do with all the produce I picked. Well, the eggplant has been set aside for more Qwik Kimchi, that’s for tonight - and if you need that recipe let me know. I’ll post it.

Here’s what I made with the squash and the chilies-

Fast Fake Beef and Broccoli

I can hear your skepticism, but go with it. (When you’re too lazy to grocery shop, like me, you use whatever is on hand.)

From my vegetable bin I grabbed 2 large broccoli crowns, 2 scallions, 4 green onions, 4 large cloves of garlic. From my meat drawer I grabbed a 2 lb. package of ground turkey. (I set aside half a pound to cook later for Jake.)

This had to be fast and easy and I didn’t feel like sauteing a bunch of vegetables. Instead I sliced the broccoli, including the stems, and the squash- 2 small zucchini 3 small-medium yellow summer squash. Put the chopped veggies in a baking dish, sprinkled on some olive oil, salt, pepper and a little superfine sugar, and roasted the veggies at 375′ until they were just browned, about 25 minutes.

While the veggies were roasting, I sliced the chilies (2) and shallots, minced the garlic, and sauteed them in a little Canola oil - adding salt and pepper to taste. I tossed in the ground turkey and cooked it through, at the last minute adding 2 Tbs. soy sauce and the sliced green onions.

When the green onions just began to wilt I stirred in the roasted vegetables. Last but not least I added 1 bottle of Trader Joe’s Chili Sauce - which is great stuff.

Serve over Asian noodles or leftover rice. We like red rice and I usually have some in the fridge. It has a terrific nutty flavor.

So that’s what I did with the squash. We actually harvested a cucumber last night. It was super good, the best cuke I’ve grown. I think the cukes will all ripen at once, along with the tomatoes. And then it’s gonna get crazy around here.

Oh, you know our vampire neighbors? Well, they seem to have vanished. I went over there today to pick apples because, being vampires, they never pick the fruit from their fruit trees. It falls to the ground and rots, and attracts rodents, so I picked a third of a bushel of apples and made caramel cinnamon applesauce. It’s good stuff. It would be really good over ice cream if I ate ice cream.

Caramel Cinnamon Applesauce